Decks have been cleared for Navi Mumbai International Airport, with the final clearance awarded by the Environment Ministry on Tuesday.
This was the pending Stage II forest and wildlife Clearance, which was given after the review of the Stage I clearance accorded in 2013 involving for compensatory forestation, river diversion and mangrove plantation among others.
With this, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the nodal agency for the project has the required approvals in place. According to sources, it is expected to award the contract by this year end and commission the first phase of the Rs16,000 crore project after the next three years by December 2019. Once complete, the first phase will have the capacity to handle more than 10 million passengers.
The Ministry had earlier granted environment clearance on November 22, 2010. In the process, it had then laid down about 32 conditions, including plantation and protection of mangroves on 615 hectares by CIDCO, and rehabilitation of 3,000 families from 10 settlements residing in about seven villages falling within the airport zone. This is to be done in keeping with the Central Relief and Rehabilitation policy. Another important condition also barred the development of property within the proposed aeronautical airport zone area of 1,160 hectares.
Subsequently, MoEF had provided Stage-I forest and wildlife clearance for the project in December 2013. The coastal zone regulation (CRZ) clearance from MoEF is also in place.
The fate of the project had been hanging in balance in the Environment Ministry since 2010. The sources in the Ministry pointed out that after the deluge of 2005, concerns were raised on the location of the airport due to reclamation of low lying areas, diversion of the river among other issues. However, after having made changes to the design, the airport plan received green approval.